The Slaying of Carolyn Kolas

The Slaying of Carolyn Kolas

From Gone Cold - Texas True Crime by TTC Productions

March 23, 2026 · 30 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the unsolved murder of Carolyn Kolas, who disappeared during a morning walk in Midland in 1995.

On May 27, 1995, 41-year-old Carolyn Kolas left her Midland home for one of her regular morning walks and never returned. A few hours later, her body was found in an alley off West Ohio Avenue, just blocks from home. She had been brutally attacked in a case that shocked Midland, not only for its violence, but because Carolyn had been taken while doing something so ordinary and so familiar. It left an entire neighborhood unsettled. Carolyn was a wife, a mother of two, a student, and a woman in the middle of changing her life. After serious health concerns, she had quit smoking, lost a significant amount of weight, and committed herself to a strict walking routine while working toward becoming a certified nurse’s aide. But as investigators searched for the person who killed her, the case grew more complicated. Early attention focused on the possibility of a stranger attack. Later, police publicly identified her husband, Daniel Kolas, as their prime suspect. Still, despite reward offers, grand jury review, and years of unanswered questions, no one was ever charged. Three decades later, Carolyn Kolas’s murder remains unsolved, a case shaped by missing evidence, shifting suspicion…

Topics covered

  • unsolved murder
  • true crime
  • Midland
  • investigation
  • family impact

Keywords

  • Carolyn Kolas
  • murder
  • Midland
  • true crime
  • unsolved case
  • investigation
  • Daniel Kolas

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Midland

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